Miss Fame (born March 30, 1985) is the stage name of Kurtis Frank Dam-Mikkelsen, an American model, makeup artist, drag queen, recording artist and reality television personality best known as a contestant on season 7 of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''. After appearing on the show, Miss Fame launched a music career, releasing her debut single, "Rubber Doll" on April 28, 2015. Her debut album, '' Beauty Marked'', was released on June 9, 2015.

Career

Dam-Mikkelsen worked as an editorial model in California before moving to New York in 2011, following the advice of fashion photographer

Mike Ruiz Mike Ruiz is a Canadian photographer, director, television personality, former model, spokesperson, creative director, and actor. Early life Ruiz, who is of French Canadian and Spanish Filipino ancestry, was born in Montreal in 1964, but raised ...

. They then started working as a makeup artist, while at the same time modeling and performing in drag as "Miss Fame." Miss Fame was noticed by photographer

Mary McCartney Mary Anna McCartney (born 28 August 1969) is a British photographer, documentary filmmaker, cookbook author, and Global Ambassador for Meat Free Monday. She is also the host for the Discovery+/Food Network vegan cooking show, ''Mary McCartney S ...

who featured her in her book ''Devoted''. She has also appeared in ''Half-Drag'', a photo series by Leland Bobbé which attracted international attention and was featured in ''

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''No ...

''. Miss Fame was also photographed for ''Gorgeous'', a project by photographers Rob Lebow and Masha Kupets that involved Armen Ra,

Candis Cayne Candis Cayne (born August 29, 1971) is an American actress and performance artist. Cayne performed in New York City nightclubs in drag since the 1990s, and came out as transgender in 1996; Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying ...

, and

Tammie Brown Tammie Brown is the stage name of Keith Glen Schubert (born September 15, 1980), an American drag performer, reality television personality, and recording artist. Brown was a fixture in the Southern California drag scene before appearing on the ...

. Dam-Mikkelsen works as a celebrity makeup artist in New York City, and has worked on models and celebrities including

Ève Salvail Ève Salvail (born April 7, 1971) is a Canadian model. Biography Salvail was born in Matane, Quebec. While modeling in Japan in the early 1990s she made the decision to shave her head bald and have a Chinese dragon tattooed on her scalp. Her di ...

, Snooki and

JWoww Jennifer Lynn Farley (born February 27, 1986), also known as JWoww, is an American television personality. She first came to prominence as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series ''Jersey Shore'', and is a main cast member ...

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco si ...

, Wendy Williams, and

Michael Urie Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC dramedy television series ''Ugly Betty''. He can be heard as Bobby Kerns in ''As the Curtain Rises'', an original podca ...

. On December 7, 2014, during the "Ru-Veal" of the seventh season of ''

'', Miss Fame was the first queen announced to be a contestant on the show. She was eliminated in the ninth episode, "Divine Inspiration," placing her seventh overall. Following her elimination, she released the music video for "Rubber Doll", which was the first single from her debut album, '' Beauty Marked''. The album was released June 9, 2015, and featured appearances from fellow ''Drag Race'' contestants

Alaska Thunderfuck Justin Andrew Honard (born March 6, 1985) is an American drag queen and recording artist known by the stage name Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, primarily known mononymously as Alaska, from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the runner-up on th ...

and

Violet Chachki Violet Chachki is the stage name of Paul Jason Dardo (born June 13, 1992), an American drag queen, burlesque/ aerial performer, content creator, model, and recording artist best known for winning the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. C ...

. In 2016, Miss Fame signed with IMG models Paris. She contributed to the compilation album '' Christmas Queens 3'' in 2017. In September 2018, Miss Fame performed as a background dancer behind

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

for

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

's Spring 2019 collection, with other ''Drag Race'' alumni. She released her own makeup line called "The Fetish of Fashion" later in October.

Early and personal life

Dam-Mikkelsen was born to Dolly Silveira in

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

, California. He has also stated that he was raised by his grandmother, Gloria, as her own son. Kurtis identifies as

genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

. Fame lives with husband Patrick Berschy and their pet dachshunds, Mina and Shaya. In 2020, Fame moved to

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

with their husband.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Music videos

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official website for Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen
* {{Authority control 21st-century American singers American make-up artists American drag queens LGBT singers from the United States LGBT people from California LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT YouTubers People from San Luis Obispo, California RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Television personalities from California American YouTubers Living people 1985 births Non-binary models American cosmetics businesspeople Non-binary drag performers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people